One Hundred Percent
by NoelAnderson
Summary: Joe thought after the alien left things would get better. He was wrong. Something strange is happening to him and it seems that the new girl knows what it is. The military haven't left and it appears they won't for a while. What is it exactly they want?
1. Chapter 1

Joe sat quietly in the corner of his best friend Charles' room as all of his friends, including Alice, talked animatedly about the night before. They were all filled with an exited energy that tended to linger after something happened that caused adrenaline rushes.

Even though none of them had gotten any sleep they weren't tired. The only one of them that was subdued at all was Joe, who hadn't spoken much since the alien left. Usually he would be voicing his own thoughts and opinions in a situation like this (not that having an alien terrorize their town was a common occurrence), but for now he was content to let the others do all the talking.

As Cary retold the story of how he and Joe had gone into the underground tunnels and saved Alice, Joe thought back on what happened immediately after the alien left.

Once it's spaceship was completely out of site, the trace everyone who saw it had seemed to be in broke, and the military men noticed the three kids and two adults that shouldn't have been there. All five of them were roughly shoved into camouflaged jeeps and driven back to their base were they were reunited with a bandaged and drugged up Martin and a hysterical Charles. Once Joe had clamed his friend down all of them (excluding Martin, none of his sentences made any sense) were questioned about their involvement with the alien and then released when it was apparent that they had just been trying to help, and knew nothing that they already didn't.

The only interrogation that went oddly was Joe's. He answered all of the questions that were asked, but it was evident that he was feeling out of it when his words came out pained. He had had, and still had, a headache that made even thinking painful. When asked about it he said it was nothing, but really it felt as if something was building up in his brain and pushing against the walls of his skull. As he left with his dad he could feel someone's eyes on him, but he tried to ignore it.

After that they went back to the town, where all the people who had been hurriedly evacuated were returning. Charles, Cary, and Martin (leaning heavily on Joe) met up with their anxious families and reassured them that they were fine and gave them the lame excuse that the military personal told them to use. They couldn't very well just say that they had been trying to save their friend from an angry alien that wanted to eat her.

All the people who's homes were still intact returned to them, and those whose houses were destroyed or heavily damaged were directed the towns community center where cots had been set up for temporary use. The military fed the people of Lillian lies and half-truths, but they did promise to make sure all their homes would be rebuilt on the governments pay, something that surprised everyone.

Joe went home with his dad, feeling slightly better knowing the he might be able to establish a better relationship with him, but the headache was still there. He dad never let him out of his sight until they were safe in their home, which had been thankfully saved from any damage. The only one of his friend's homes that had received any destructive blows, and or explosions was Cary's house. His family had to stay at the community center, although they didn't mind. Their house had been a wreck because of Cary's obsession with fire and explosives. They would have had to remodel anyway, this way they didn't even have to pay.

The next morning all six of them met up at Charles' house so they could all get the entire story. Preston was especially confused because all he had gotten was the militaries explanation, which he knew couldn't have been true because he knew about the alien.

"Hey Joe! You ok over there? You keep spacing out?" a voice asked him bringing him out of his flow of memories and back to the present.

He looked up to the curious eyes of Cary, who had asked the question. Everyone looked at him, waiting for an answer. Alice looked especially concerned.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine, guys. You don't have to worry." He assured them, absently massaging his pounding head.

"Are you sure, because you had that really bad headache last night and it seems like it hasn't gone away. Maybe you should tell your dad about it." Alice pressed suspiciously. Joe looked at with something akin to panic in his eyes.

"No! My dad doesn't need to know. It's nothing really, just a simple headache." He objected with a weak smile. Alice narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips.

"Sure man, whatever." Cary replied dismissively, oblivious to Joe's nervousness.

Martin was sitting in a chair with his leg propped up, his eyes still droopy from the painkillers he was given, so he didn't notice anything strange with Joe either, but Preston and Charles did. Preston was a quiet person and knew when not to push a person and give much needed space, Charles on the other hand was not so tactful.

"Oh come _on_, Joe. Your head hurt so bad yesterday you couldn't even think clearly! Just tell your freaking dad and stop trying being some kind of hero." He exclaimed standing up and towering over Joe's small form.

"What do you mean 'trying to be some kind of hero'? It's just a headache. Everybody gets them." Joe questioned weakly, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"You think that you're so tough and brave, but you're not! Any one of us could have saved Alice last night. I could have if I hadn't stayed with Martin!" Charles yelled angrily.

"Hey, leave me out of this." Martin mumbled through his tired haze, probably just hearing Charles' raised voice and his name. It wasn't hard to tell when Charles was starting a fight.

"We weren't even talking about that," Joe said slowly, as he would talk to an animal about to pounce. "I just have a headache, ok? I know that you could have saved Alice if you had been given the chance."

On the inside his blood was boiling. He was usually the peacemaker along with Preston, and he was trying to keep the peace now, but his friend was being exceedingly rude and selfish. Just as he was partially a peacemaker, he was also quiet and shy, the complete opposite of Charles. Usually Charles would be in the spotlight and he would be in the shadowed background. Why couldn't his friend be happy for him?

"I'm sure I could have saved her. I don't need you to tell me that! Your just being cocky because of what you did last night, but it wasn't as great as you probably think." Charles sneered.

Cary was glaring at Charles, obviously angry at his words, while Preston looked unsure of what to do and Alice kept looking between him and Charles with a knowing look. Martin was asleep.

Joe, sick of how he was being spoken to, stood up right in front of Charles and got in his face.

"I didn't go after Alice because I was trying to be a hero! I did it because I didn't want her to die. The entire time Cary and I were down in those tunnels I was scared out of my mind! I wasn't sure if_ I _was going to die. And I wasn't being cocky just because I don't want to tell my dad about my headache! It's no big deal and I would appreciate it if you all would stop being so darn nosy." He yelled with his hands rolled into fists.

As he ranted hi felt something in his mind snap, and the pressure he felt before seemed to flow freely. Where it flowed, he wasn't sure, but _flowed_ was the perfect word to use. It was like having water in his head, making him feel top heavy.

With one hand he clenched his head and with the other he supported him self on the wall. His eyes were squeezed tightly shut in pain.

Charles, whose face now showed concern, put a hand on his shoulder and asked if he was ok. All the others were now standing (except Martin) and crowding around him.

"I need to leave." He gasped out desperately like he could get in any air.

He shoved his way past them and stumbled down the hall and out of the house, ignoring Charles' mother as she asked if he was ok. Once outside he headed straight for his bike, not even sure if he'd be to ride.

He reached for its handle as another wave of dizziness hit him. He closed his eyes and steadied himself so he wouldn't fall. As the world seemed to stop spinning he realized that something cool and slick was in his hand. He opened his eyes and saw that he was now gripping his bike handle tightly in his hand.

He looked at it in confusion. He could have sworn it was at least a foot away from him before. He shook his head in a fruitless attempt to clear it and quickly mounted his bike.

The closer he got to his house, the better he felt. It was like whatever was pressuring his skull before was settling, like it had been held back and just need space to expand.

Instead of feeling dizzy or achy he felt refreshed and energized. Like he had drunk twenty bottles of coca cola.

Something that bothered him about this new feeling was the nagging sense of awareness that wasn't there before, like he knew more then he ever had.

As he pulled into his driveway he saw the light on in his living room and knew his father was home from work. He had left early in the morning to help with all the chaos.

He smiled, looking forward to seeing his changed dad and completely forgetting about his old headache and the new awareness.

**A/N: OK, PLEASE READ THIS IF YOU LIKED THE FIRST CHAPTER! This is kind of like a testing chapter to see if anyone would like the idea of this story, if **_**someone**_** doesn't read it I'm not going to bother continuing, but if you read it and liked it, I desperately need your help. I'm not sure if I should add an OC as a main character or make this a Joe/Alice story or a Joe/OC story or even maybe have an OC be a main character but still keep it Joe/Alice and keep the OC single or pair her with another main character. If you want any say in how this story proceeds I suggest you tell me because I'm going to be basing the next chapter on what the majority of you want most. If I include an OC she will show in chapter 2 so I need to know before I start writing in and finishing my story outline. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE TELL ME WHAT YOU'D LIKE! I NEED TO KNOW!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: ok, first off, thank you to everyone that reviewed! You really motivated me. I'm so incredibly sorry for the whole Martin Martian thing. I was typing fast and it completely slipped my mind. It should be fixed by the end of the day. I have decided to keep the pairing for this story Joe/Alice, but an OC will be one of the main characters. If you have any preferences for a pairing with a girl OC and a main character please let me know and I will seriously consider it. Now for the story! **

**Oh, and last time I forgot to put a disclaimer so here it is: Disclaimer: I do not own Super 8, if I did the movie would have been at least three hours long and would have continued from the ending.**

Joe quickly jumped off his bike and sprinted to his front door. He felt weightless and free, like the weight of the world had just been lifted off his shoulders. No more headache and he was reestablishing a better relationship with his father. He couldn't have been happier.

He yanked the door open as quickly as he could and went straight to the living room, where his dad was seated in their lazy-boy reading a newspaper. He looked up from the paper and saw he son grinning ear to ear as he entered the room. He set the paper down and grinned back, beckoning for Joe to take a seat on the couch next to him. Joe's eyes lit up and he sat down.

Jackson Lamb's eyes grew sad as he realized the gap he had created between he and his son. If inviting Joe to talk got him so happy then he must have been neglecting him more then he realized the past few months. He was an independent man, and when his wife died he hadn't known how to handle it. Joe's mother had been the only person he had ever truly loved. So instead of being there for his son and confiding his feelings in him, he had kept to himself and bottled his feelings up until he had no real relationship with Joe. He vowed that instant to always be there for him, to be the best father he could. He would do whatever it took to make his son happy, so they could be a family again.

"How was your day Joe. You look like your feeling better." He commented, noticing that Joe didn't look pained as he had last night. Joe's eyes grew wide when his father mentioned it. He hadn't realized that he had noticed.

"Yeah, my head feels a million times better now. It was nothing. My day went ok, but I kind of blew up at Charles. He was being a jerk." Joe said angrily. When his dad's eyebrows went up in curiosity he quickly changed the subject before he could push the subject any further. "So how's the town clean up going? Have the military workers left yet? Cary mentioned that a lot of military personal were stationed at the community center last night. I thought they would have left since the alien isn't here anymore."

Jackson slumped tiredly in his seat, wiping a hand over his whiskered face. He had a long, exhausting day and it was evident in his continence. He looked like he would pass out any moment.

"No the military haven't left yet and I don't think they will for a while. They haven't even begun to pack up their base of operations! I don't get it. Why won't they leave? It's like they think it's not over yet, like something still going to happen. I really hope not because the whole towns really freaking out. I don't think anyone bought what the military said. Several people even saw the spaceship as it left and they leaked the information to the press. I've been trying to keep the photographers and newscasters at bay all day! I want you to be careful, ok Joe? If they find out what happened with you and your friends don't talk to any of them. I don't now how they will twist _that_ story. I just don't want you getting hurt." He told his son softly, concern written all over his face.

Joe smiled wider at his father's, well, fatherliness. He was acting like a normal parent, being overly protective, and it made Joe feel good. He felt loved for the first time since his mother died.

The fact that the military hadn't left yet worried him, he never felt comfortable being near any of them, but for now he decided to just look on the up side of things. The alien was gone, he had saved Alice, he was getting closer to his dad, and his head no longer felt like it was about to explode. Yup, life was good.

"There was one thing I was wondering about." Jackson said quietly with an inquisitive expression on his face. Joe leaned closer to hear what he was saying." Why did you let go of your mother locket? I thought you loved that thing."

Joe bit his lip and looked down at the floor. He wasn't sure how to answer his dad. At the time it had just seemed like the right thing to do.

"I-I guess I was just tired of it weighing me down. It kept me stuck on the past and I think mom would have wanted me to focus on my future. She would have wanted me to be happy. Every time I looked at that locket I felt like I was at her funeral all over again. It was keeping me form moving on. I don't have that unbearable sadness tugging at my heart anymore. I feel like I can let myself feel joy again, that I can laugh and just have fun. I did love that locket, but I don't regret letting it go." He breathed out quickly; letting the words flow from his lips as he pulled the words from his heart. He could feel the tears brimming on his eyelashes as his vision got cloudy, but I refused to let them fall down his cheek. He saw tears in his father's eyes too, but he was smiling. At Joe's confused look Jackson rose form the lazy-boy and scooped him up from the couch, hugging him in his warm embrace.

Joe, surprised by this action, just let him hug him for a moment, but after the shock wore off he returned the hug tightly as a single tear escaped his eye. He had missed his father's hugs, the one moment he felt safe and completely sheltered. He gripped the back of his dad's shirt like a drowning man.

"Thank you, Joe, for telling me this. I can't tell you how mush it means to me that you felt comfortable enough to confide in me. I'm so sorry for how I've treated you these last few months, but I promise I _will_ make it up for you." He swore to him.

"There's nothing to make up for dad. I understand that you weren't sure how to react when mom died. I'm just glad that I have you back now. Please don't leave me like that again." He pleaded desperately.

Jackson pulled away and held his son at an arms length, gripping his shoulder so he could make sure Joe was looking at him.

"Never, Joe. I will never let you face anything like that alone again. I will be there for you always." Joe smiled and wiped at his eyes, nodding.

"Thanks dad. I love you so much." He said sincerely as he gratefully went to bed, just as tired as his dad from the day's events.

He slipped on his pajamas and climbed into bed. As he lay there trying to clear his mind so he could fall asleep he noticed something strange, not really weird, just strange. He could remember every movement and every word that was spoken since he got off his bike. Now it wasn't anything bad, but he had never really had a good memory so this surprised him. He felt… smart, like he could pass any test thrown at him. Not that he would be taking any tests until school started in at least two months, but still, it was a nice feeling. Strange, but nice. He pushed the persistent feeling that he should be alarmed away and closed his eyes. He fell asleep in minutes.

The next morning he woke up to the loud and annoying ringing of his house phone going off. He scrambled out of bed, falling to his knees in his hurry, and grabbed it off the wall before the person had a chance to hang up.

"Hello, Lamb residence." He croaked out, his voice scratchy from sleep.

"What's with the hells with the formalities man?" Charles asked loudly form the other line. Joe straightened and felt more awake then before.

"Oh, um, hi Charles." He said hesitantly. He wasn't sure if Charles was still mad at him about the day before, and to be honest, he wasn't so sure if he was still mad too.

"Relax Joe, I'm not mad at you about yesterday. I was being a bit of a jerk." _A bit of a jerk, try a total jerk!_ Joe thought acidly, but didn't interrupt. "So are we cool?" Charles asked hopefully. Joe sighed, he was still upset about how he had been treated, but he wasn't one to hold a grudge.

"Yeah Charles, we're cool." He replied. He could hear Charles let out a relieved breath. "Is that why you called this morning?"

"No, that's not all. Cary, Preston, Martin, Alice, and I are all meeting down at the railroad tracks to discus what we're going to do about the movie. Obviously we need you there too." He admitted.

"Ok, I'll just ask my dad and be there in about a half an hour. I still need to get dressed." He agreed. Both he and Charles hung up the phone and Joe looked around for his dad. In the kitchen he found a note posted on the refrigerator.

**Joe, I'm sorry I wasn't there when you woke up, but I was called in early this morning. We're having more problems with the press. I hope you have a nice day and make sure to be safe. Remember what we talked about last night. Don't talk to anyone you don't know.**

**-Dad**

He crumpled up the note and threw it in the garbage can. He was glad his dad left him a note this time. Usually he just left. Sometimes he would leave a note, but not one as long as this one was. To him it was another sign that his dad was trying.

He grabbed some clothes and went to the bathroom so he could change and wash his face. He put the clothes on quickly, but as he was washing his face he stopped mid gesture and looked closer at his reflection. His eyes were their usual brown color, but his pupils looked out of shape instead of a perfect round circle and on the very edges he could see some other color starting to creep in. He couldn't indentify it now, because there wasn't enough color to tell, but it was there and he could see it. He jerked away from the mirror, afraid of what he saw. What in the world was happening to him?

He shook off his worry again and grabbed his bike, pedaling as fast as he could to meet up with his friends. As he was zooming down the street he slowed down when he noticed something odd. There was a moving van parked in front of one of the untouched vacant houses. He saw people unloading it and quickly put two and two together. Someone was moving it in. he figured they must have bought the house before all this alien crap or else he couldn't see why someone would _want_ to move in here now. The place was a wreck.

As he passed right by it he slowed even more to see if he could get a glimpse of who was moving in. Just as he went by a girl around his age came out of the house.

Her hands were balled into fists and her eyes were narrowed as she took in the damaged houses around her. Joe could see why someone would be mad about having to live in a place that was burned and ruined, but somehow he knew that that wasn't why she was mad. She had on a lime green tank top and jean shorts with hiking boots. Her hair was a sun streaked brown, and her eyes made him stop cold. They were a feral golden color and her pupils looked slightly pointed at the top and bottom, almost like a cats, but it want super noticable. With a jolt he realized that he shouldn't be able to see anything that far away with such clarity. He eyesight seemed to have doubled overnight.

She looked at him and her eyes grew fiercer. She turned around and stomped back into her house. As he started pedaling away again, he questioned if he had even seen her strange eyes. Maybe he had just imagined it.

**A/N: so I hope you liked the chapter. Please tell me what you think! I love getting reviews as mush as any writer. What are your guesses on what's happening to Joe and what part will the new girl play? If you have any ideas that would make this story more enjoyable for you please tell me and I will seriously consider using it! I want this story to be the best it can be. And the reason I updated so quickly is because my school starts up in about a week and a half and I want to post as much as I can before I get too busy with homework and studying **


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I'm not entirely happy with the name of this story, although is does fit pretty well, so I'm going to let you all decide what it should be. Please put your decision in a review or PM me. Options: **_**One Hundred Percent/Becoming Similar/ Strange Changes/ Brain Overload/ Alien Eyes/. **_**Tell me which you like best! Now, on with the story **

Joe continued to ride as fast as he could to the railroad tracks. He wanted to get as far away from the girl as fast as he could. He knew he hadn't imagined the way her eyes looked, how similar they had seemed, but he tried with all his might to convince himself that he had. Until now he hadn't noticed something important: he was deliberately trying to ignore anything that might tear his now perfect world away from him, he was trying to keep the mind set that his world _was_ now perfect, which he subconsciously knew wasn't true. Still he held on to the thin thread that kept his life from changing. Even with this realization, he still chose to ignore it.

_Nothing bad was happening. He was living a normal life. Everything would turn out ok, _he kept repeating in his mind.He was concentrating so hard on those three sentences that sweat was beading up on his forehead. Even through his determined haze he could feel the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. He felt like he was being watched, and it wasn't just the paranoid feeling some people got every once in a while. It seemed as though he could literally feel someone's intense gaze on him. The only other time in his life he had felt that sensation was when the military were looking for the alien, although he was sure everyone could feel eyes on them then. Just having the military in their small town had made them nervous, which was understandable after the train crash. They couldn't have known what had been in those freight cars, and they hadn't liked not knowing. It was evident in there eyes as they glanced at the military personal walking along in the town, or when military jeeps drove by. For all they knew whatever had been in those freight cars had been radioactive! Joe shook his head and, just as he had with the headache, awareness, and the new girls eyes, ignored the feeling.

As Joe pulled up to where his friends were standing he couldn't help the blush that rose to his cheeks when Alice smiled shyly at him. He would have returned the smile had Charles not come over and yanked him off his bike in irritation.

Charles was practically seething impatience as he dragged his friend to the center of their group. Cary was being his usual energetic self with his fingers twitching and legs bouncing up and down while he stood in place. He was never able to stand still. Most likely he was itching to take out his firecrackers and light them up right on the spot, but he had the competence not to push Charles any farther then he already was. It seemed as if one tiny nudge would send their friend over the edge. Preston was reclining on his heels with his hands in his pockets, giving off a patient, but bored air. Martin was no longer high of painkillers and was being supported by crutches as he read a book that Joe couldn't see the title of, but he seemed to hate the thing with a passion. Alice was kind of just staring at him deep in thought. When she saw his gaze fixed on her she quickly averted her eyes.

"What they heck took you so long Joe? I've been here for over half an hour!" Charles burst out angrily at him. He just allowed Charles to lead (drag) him to the other as he explained himself calmly.

"I told you on the phone I still needed to get ready for the day, and on my over here I saw a moving van and stopped to see who was moving in."

That got everyone's attention. They all looked at him with curiosity shining in their eyes, even Martin, who looked up from his mysterious book to listen better.

"Who in their right mind would move to Lillian after all the damage this place just sustained?" Charles wondered out loud in his demanding way.

"They probably bought the house before all the destruction. That's the only possibility I can think of." Joe replied. Cary face lit up with a devilish smile with the same look in his eyes as when he was spouting out his conspiracy theories.

"Maybe they're undercover journalists that came to Lillian to find out the truth of what happened with the alien and want to expose our secret to the world. Or maybe they're secret government agents that plan on making us 'disappear' because we know too much. Or maybe they're even scientists that want to kidnap Joe and do a bunch of creepy experiment on him because of his contact with the alien, or maybe-" Cary was suddenly cut off when Alice hit him over the head with Martin's book, an exasperated look on her face.

"Like any of those ideas are true! Honestly, you'd think with the grades you get you'd be a bit smarter. I think Joe's right, they just bought the house before this whole mess happened." She said with a nod in Joe's direction. He smiled gratefully at her, glad that she got Cary to shut up. She looked down at the book she had grabbed from Martin and looked at him like he was insane.

"What the heck are you doing with a college level astronomy book? You aren't even in any AP classes at Lillian High." She asked with an amused smirk. Martin flushed and tried to get the book back from her, but Joe beat him to it. He opened it up and started skimming through, completely ignoring everyone else around him, like he was actually interested in it.

"Look, my mom's been freaking ever since I got hurt two nights ago. She actually believes the militaries claims that the alien attacks were really terrorist attacks. She says that 'knowledge in power' and that I don't have enough of it to last in life. You guys know my mom, she's crazy! She expects me to read all these educational book by the time schools starts so I can get better grades, but I don't understand any of this stuff. I mean how am I supposed to know," he took the book away from Joe mid sentence and started flipping through until he got to a specific page, must likely the one he had been reading only minutes before. "What an electron in an atom needs to get from a low energy to a higher energy state? Only a genius would know that!"

"For an electron to go from a lower energy state to a higher energy state, it has to have more energy. It can gain energy from the absorption of a photon, or it can get bumped and absorb some energy from the collision. Either way, the electron winds up absorbing energy and moving to a higher energy level." Joe answered the rhetorical question without seeming to realize that he had.

Cary, Alice, Preston, Charles, and Martin all stared at him, keeping completely quiet until Joe noticed that he was now the center of attention. He looked at them, oblivious.

"What?" he asked in confusion.

"Dude, you just sounded smarter then old man Woodward." Cary said in amazement. "Do you know how to create a grenade? Because that would way cool if you did."

Alice ignored Cary's antics and took a step closer to Joe. "How did you know that? I'm a grade higher then you and _I _didn't even know that. Heck I'm sure Charles sister Jen doesn't even know that!"

"Yeah, well, she's not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed." Charles interjected. Alice shot him a glare and turned back to Joe.

"I just, uh, I got the answer from the book. I read that section while you where talking to Martin and just recited it when he asked." Joe answered nervously. Both Preston and Alice looked skeptical at this, but before they could ask anything else Charles lost the last bit of patience he possessed.

"I honestly don't give hell about any new neighbors, or Joe's sudden smartness! I called you all here to talk about my movie and that's what we're going to do." He yelled at them. Joe looked relieved.

For the next two hours the discussed ideas on how to make it look like Martin was uninjured on camera. Whether it involved him standing so close to a wall that he could lean on it, or him wearing a huge trench coat to cover the crutches, but by the time they were finished Joe was sick of hearing the words 'mint', and 'film fest'. While they talked he and Alice stood side my side, occasionally casting glances at the other and blushing every time one of them got caught. He decided that he would talk to her about it when Charles was done and they could go somewhere alone.

"Ok, let's meet at my house tomorrow so we can shoot the next scene, Joe, make sure you bring your zombie make up. We have to move quickly if we want to make the film fest." Uhg, there it was again. The words film fest. Joe rolled his eyes and picked up his bike, glad to be able t go home now.

"Hey, um, Alice! Could we please talk for a moment?" he asked hesitantly. Alice smiled like she had been waiting for him to ask and nodded. They both waited until everyone else was gone.

"So what did you want to say?" Alice asked expectantly.

Joe gulped and mustered up all the courage he could.

"Well I'm not too sure how you feel about me, but when the alien took off and we both held hands, I felt like, I don't know, like I was on fire. You probably already know how I feel about you, because I'm not very good at hiding things, but for me, you're very hard to read so I'm just going to come right out and ask." He inhaled deeply let the words all out in one breath. "Would you like to go on a date with me?"

He squeezed his eyes shut, expecting to be let down, but instead a hand slipped into his and pulled him closer. He opened his eyes to see Alice beaming at him with rosy cheeks.

"Joe Lamb, I thought you'd _never_ ask." She shouted happily. All Joe could do was smile and let the fire spread.

**A/N: once again, please tell me which title you like best! I know this will make me sound like an idiot, but I drawing a blank on how to make Joe and Alice's date go. I desperately need someone's help with that. I'm not very good with the whole romance department although there will be plenty of it in this story. I'm positive I can write it all in, I just can't think of anything for the next chapter! If anyone could give me some ideas I'll have the next chapter up much sooner.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: well, I must say that I'm very sad that no one was able, or was too lazy, to give me any ideas for the date in this chapter *****sob*****. Naw I'm just kidding I'm not that upset, but if this chapter doesn't turn out the way you had hoped then it's partially your fault since I gave you the opportunity to tell me what outcome or events you wanted. Just saying. In the future I will gladly take ideas on anything, even if I don't ask for them. And only one person told me the name they wanted for the story so as of now I'm keeping it **_**One Hundred Percent**_** unless you tell me other wise. Enjoy the chapter **

Joe held onto his bike with a death grip as he walked it home. He decided that he wanted to walk instead of ride so he could have more time to think. At the moment he was feeling very conflicted. He was so happy and exited for his date with Alice, which was scheduled to happen tomorrow after they helped Charles with his movie, but he was also feeling scared and confused. He was known for having a horrible memory when it came to memorizing anything from a book, it was one of the reasons he struggled in school, so there was no way he should have been able to remember something he had just skimmed over in a matter of seconds, but he did. He still remembered every single word his eyes had beheld in that small amount of time, and not only that, but he understood it.

Whatever it was that was going on with him was diffidently not normal, and that terrified him. Although he didn't let it on, what Cary had so innocently said had only made him feel even worse: _maybe they're even scientists that want to kidnap Joe and do a bunch of creepy experiment on him because of his contact with the alien. _He highly doubted that the new neighbors were scientists, but what if someone found out about what had happened in the underground tunnels and did try to experiment on him? He had little doubt that whatever was going on with him had to do with the contact he had with the alien.

Dr. Woodward mentioned something in the films he and his friends had found about the Alien being able to establish more permanent telepathic connection between itself and humans, and the he (Dr. Woodward) was the only human at the time that had one. What if it was capable of doing more then just communicating telepathically, who knows what else it could do to a persons mind?

He was rudely pulled out of his depressing thoughts as a bike came to an abrupt stop just before he would have collided with it. He looked up to see that the rider was Charles, and he looked pissed. Charles jumped off his bike and came at him with a murderous air.

"What the heck, man?" Joe yelled at him angrily. If Charles hadn't stopped in time they both would have gotten seriously hurt, from the angle his friend had come in from it was apparent that Charles had seen him, and therefore he did what he did on purpose.

"What did you talk about with Alice?" Charles demanded, completely ignore Joe's question. Joe looked at him in confusion.

"How did you know I spoke with Alice after you all left?"

"I saw you both as I pulled away. You weren't exactly secretive about it!" Charles glared accusingly. "Now what did you talk about with her?"

"I don't see how that's any of you business." He replies deathly calm, his voice sounding dangerous even to his own ears. Charles took a step back, obviously taken aback by his response. He hadn't expected Joe to retaliate with such anger.

"Just answer me dude!" He shouted before he could back down. Joe sighed like he was fighting with a four year old and rolled his eyes.

"I asked Alice out on a date. She said yes. Happy now?" He felt it before it even came, sensing as the wind direction changed, ducking with unnatural speed and grabbing Charles fist before he could try to punch him again. Charles was too angry to even notice anything odd happening with Joe, he just pulled his fist away, not wanting any more contact with the person he was so ticked off with at the moment.

"You knew I liked her you jerk! You knew I liked Alice. I told you so myself, and you go and ask her out? What is with that? What is with you? I thought you were my friend!" Charles was so mad he could have had steam coming out of his ears. He knew what he was saying made him a horrible friend, but he didn't care.

Joe returned the glare Charles was sending him, but his was much different. Charles' eyes were frantic and overwhelmed with a ridiculous fury, making him look unstable and not at all intimidating, but Joe's eyes showed he was collected and cold, that made he seem menacing despite his size. The anger was almost instinctive, like he was only angry because Charles was intruding on what was rightfully his. He seemed wild in a tame sort of way.

"I didn't do anything wrong. While you did tell me you liked Alice I started liking her before that and she likes me back. You're just being insensitive. Everything doesn't have to be about you, even though it usually is. This is something good I've got going for myself. Would you really ruin if just because you're being selfish?" as he spoke the anger seemed to drain out of him and he started to return to normal. The animalistic behavior gone, leaving him looked vulnerable and disbelieving.

"I'm-I'm sorry, man." Charles breathed out, the fight leaving him to. "I just didn't know how to react when I saw the both of you together and I kind of flipped. I'll try not to be too much of a prick, but I can't just ignore what's going on."

Joe nodded in understanding, but picked up his bike and left silently, not wanting to take the chance of starting up another fight. He swung his leg over and sat on the bike's seat, not wanting to think anymore. He rode home somehow managing not to think anything at all.

Once again when he pulled into the driveway the living room light was on. His dad was home early again. He parked the bike and walked inside. He was shocked to see his dad standing in the kitchen holding a bag of ice to his eye, wincing in pain.

"Dad! What happened?" he exclaimed making his poor father jump and almost drop the ice. Jackson swerved his head to look at his son, a smile erasing the pain on his face. He was sporting a nasty looking black eye.

"Joe, I'm glad you're home. I was wondering when you'd return." He commented happily. Joe returned the smile, but his eyes still showed concern.

"Did one of the military men do it? They seem like to type to." He said making his dad laugh.

"No it wasn't a military man. It was one of those gosh darn pushy photographers. They're getting desperate it seems. Someone diffidently told them what happened to you in the underground and they're starving for some interviews. Most likely the story will be in the paper tomorrow." Jackson replied looking irritated.

"How did they find out?" Joe asked weakly. His father looked at him, this time he seemed concerned.

"They got the story from a girl that had been down there with. From what I hear she almost didn't survive. I think the alien threw her or something." He said thoughtfully.

"You mean that teenage girl with the curlers told them what happened?" Joe questioned looking slightly hurt. He had almost saved her life after all. He hadn't even been aware that she had lived through the encounter, but the alien must have left her alone after he threw her.

"Well I'm not sure about any curlers, but it was a teenage girl. She was so shaken up that I don't think she even realized what she was telling them. It was like she was in a trance." Jackson said, and amused smile on his face.

Joe just nodded, lost in thought. He wasn't sure if anyone else from the underground tunnels had lived, but he was glad to know that there was a possibility that they could have at all. Being thrown obviously wasn't very good for your health. He hoped sheriff Pruitt lived, although he doubted it. The sheriff was a nice man. Even though the alien had harmed so many people, he knew it was only following instinct and an unadulterated hatred. It had been tortured and tested on. Of course it would hate humans, but he wouldn't have taken any humans if he didn't feel the need to. Even though the thought made Joe shutter, the creature had to eat. He just wished it had chosen to take a cow or even raid a grocery store, but it wouldn't have though if that. It did the first thing that came to mind.

A hand waved in front of his face. He flinched and looked over at his dad.

"You ok Joe? You spaced out there for a minute." His dad asked worriedly.

"I'm fine dad just tired." He said dismissively. His dad nodded and stayed silent, looking at his son in concern.

Joe went to bed early that night and didn't even get up until right before he had to go to Charles house. He changed quickly and was out the door in seconds, flying down the street on his bike.

At Charles house things went smoothly. Charles avoided him like a plague, but all in all that probably kept any fight from happening again. Martin acted as well as was ever able to (not that good) and they were able to film some of the last few scenes without Cary blowing something up, although he did try to. When Charles declared they were done for the day Joe felt a spike of nervousness shoot through his stomach. It was time for his date with Alice. Alice was all smiles as she took off her costume, but none of the other boys seemed to notice anything different about her. Joe noticed. It made him extremely happy to know that he could affect her like that, make her so giddy just by asking her out on a date. Maybe she liked him more then he had originally thought.

He quickly put his make up away and took his dad's camera from Charles, stowing them both away in his backpack. Once they were both finished and everyone else was gone, Joe left his backpack with his bike and they both started down the street together.

"So what do you have planned Joe?" Alice asked happily, poking him in the ribs playfully. Joe smiled in return and bravely held her hand in his, making them both blush, but she didn't protest.

"It's a surprise." Joe replied mysteriously leading her down the street as butterflies filled his stomach.

**A/N: to show my dislike of nobody helping me out I left you with a cliffhanger. Hah. No, not really. I just thought that adding in the entire date would make this chapter too much longer compared to the rest. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW AND ANSWER MY PREVIOUS QUIESTIONS! ! !**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I'm sorry this took longer then usual for me to post, but I saw the movie Sarah's Key and it kind of got me feeling down for a while. Don't get me wrong them movie is really good, it's just also very sad. If you haven't seen it and don't like crying during a movie, I don't suggest you see this one. I don't usually cry for movies but I did for Sarah's Key. Anyway, I'm back and will have at least four more chapters up before I start school. Now on with the story! **

"Come on Joe! Why are you being so secretive?" Alice asked in an exited voice, her smile wide as Joe made her cover her eyes. "You said that we aren't even there yet. Why do I have to cover my eyes?"

"Because the place I'm taking you to is something I want to stay hidden. It can't be hidden if you know where it is." Joe explained as he took her arm and carefully led her through the forest, telling her when to take a step over a root and making sure she didn't step in any puddles.

"But why do you want it hidden?" she questioned curiously. Joe hesitated. He didn't want her to feel like she was intruding on something special to him, but he answered anyway.

"My mom used to take me there all the time. It was a place we went to think and just go to get some quiet. We used to have picnic lunches here every Sunday my dad had to work. And don't think you're intruding." He said hastily as she stopped in her tracks. "I want to bring you there. I think my mom would have liked it. I haven't even been back there since she died. It will be nice to have someone there with me my first time back. I haven't even shown this place to Charles. He's too loud for a place used for quiet."

Alice allowed him to continue leading her, but she stayed quiet for a long time.

"Thank you." She whispered after a while sounding moved. She kept one hand on her eyes, but used the other to squeeze Joe's hand comfortingly. He looked at her in confusion.

"For what?" he asked.

"For feeling like you can share something so substantial to yourself with me. It means more then you can possibly think."

Joe just nodded even though she couldn't see. He wasn't sure how to reply to that. They walked about five more minutes, nobody saying anything, before Joe stopped and told her to uncover her eyes. She did so just as they entered into a beautiful meadow cover in wild flowers with a pond in the center. There were dragonflies and bumblebees buzzing around everywhere, the bees moving swiftly from flower to flower. The pond was a shockingly clear blue color instead of a murky brown, showing off bright orange gold fish swimming around brilliant green flowering rush. The flowers covered more ground then the grass did, sporting colors from deep violet to pail yellow. Alice gasped and looked around in wonder. Joe smiled and stepped in deeper.

"Alice, welcome to Silent Meadow." He said, using the name his mother came up with proudly. Alice grinned at him and ran forward, giving him a tight hug.

"Thank you _so_ much for bringing me here Joe. It's the most gorgeous place I've ever seen." She breathed, still in awe. She had never been aware that the dreary gray woods she knew held such a beauty.

"I'm just glad you like it. I wasn't sure how you'd react to coming here. I didn't want to take any of my friends here because I didn't think they could really appreciate it." Joe laughed returning the hug warmly. They broke apart and Joe grabbed her arm, pulling her towards a huge oak tree off to the side. "Come on I want to show you something."

He ran to the tree and knelt down, Alice following his lead. At the base of the trunk, right before the root went into the ground, was a hole big enough to fit a dog in. Joe reached his hand inside and pulled out a medium sized box. He opened up the lid and looked inside, his eyes sparkling with past memories. Alice peeked over his shoulder and peered in. The box held a wide genre of books, from love stories to sci-fi. It also held a blanket with an intricate flower design, obviously inspired from the flower around them.

"These where all the books she would read." Joe whispered longingly. Alice didn't need to ask who 'she' was. "Whenever she took me with her she would make sure to read aloud to me. We always sat on the blanket, even when we ate. She made it herself."

"It looks so real." Alice breathed, gently picking it up and holding it in the air so she could see it all. Joe took it from her and set it on the ground, patting the spot next to him. She sat down and he pulled something else from the box. It was a sketchbook. He opened it up and handed it over to her. She took it was carefully, holding it like she expected it to turn to dust in her hands. On the pages were drawing as amazing as the blanket. Joe's mother was a very skilled woman. One specific drawing that caught her eyes was of a mother holding her son in her lap with her arms around him, a book held so both could see. It was of Joe and his mother while she read to him in the meadow.

"Joe, are you sure you want to be showing this to me? It seems so… private." She asked hesitantly, her eyebrows pulled together in concern. These were things that only he and his mother had seen, she felt like she was trespassing on private property.

"I'm sure Alice. It's fine, trust me." He insisted sincerely. She nodded but still looked unconvinced.

They spent the next two hours looking at Joe's mother's drawing and taking turns reading some of the books from the box out loud, laughing hysterically every time one of them messed up. At one point they both started climbing the huge oak to see who could go the highest. Alice almost made it to the top, but Joe couldn't get much farther then the middle. He never liked heights. Alice joined him on the branch he had been holding; playfully calling him a wimp for letting a girl beat him.

"I can't help it if I get vertigo. You must have a fear too." Joe replied, a sheepish smile on his face.

"Yes, I'm afraid of jell-o." She said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"I'm sure somewhere out there there's a person that's afraid of jell-o. That's insulting to them." Joe teased leaning closer to her.

"Well then whoever it is will just have to get over it." She smirked, mimicking him and leaning closer. Her eyes grew worried as she studies him intently.

"What, do I have something on my face?" Joe asked with an eyebrow raised.

"No, but your eyes look different. Did they have a golden color near the edges before? I mean they're still brown, but…" she trailed off as Joe closed the gap between them, bringing his lips to hers. They both stayed like that for a minute, each as surprised as the other. When they broke apart Joe was blushing furiously. He was shocked at his split second decision, but happy all the same. He even managed to make her forget about his eyes. He looked at Alice like he was waiting for a reaction, but she just beamed and started climbing down.

Near dinnertime they both put the blanket and books away, stowing them back in the hole. As they walked back through the forest they held each other's hands, swinging them with each step. Joe didn't even care if she figured out the way to Silent Meadow. Once out of the woods the quickly went through the town and headed in the direction of Alice's house. Joe dropped her off, but before he could leave she pecked him quickly on the cheek.

As he started walking down the street alone he couldn't help but grin ear to ear. The date had gone even better then he had expected, excluding Alice noticing his eyes. He was starting to get even more concerned about that. They were steadily turning gold, the color creeping in more everyday.

He decided to take the short cut to his house through the park so he could get home faster. As he passed the playground he noticed someone on one of the benches, bent over a journal. He looked closer and saw that it was the girl he saw the other day, the one who had just moved in. even though she intimidated him greatly, he went up to her to welcome her to the neighbor hood. It seemed like the polite thing to do. As he got closer she looked up and he realized something: her pupils weren't slitted anymore and she seemed much calmer. She even smiled at him.

"Hi, I'm Joe Lamb. I live near you and saw that you'd just moved in. I wanted to welcome you to our neighborhood. Not that it looks so good right now." He added, looking around at all the noticeable damage that still remained. The place was looking better thought, and it had just been a few days.

"My names Bryn Ronaldie. It's nice to meet you Joe." She greeted. He was relieved to see she wasn't as rough as he had expected. "Have a seat."

He sat down next to her on the bench and she closed her journal, putting it in a messenger bag by her feet.

"So how do you like it here so far?" he asked trying to start a conversation.

"To be perfectly honest… I hate it. I mean I don't hate the town, I just hate the wreckage the military left behind." She replied, shooting a glare at a burned house not fifty feet away.

"Why do you seem to hate it so much? I mean I know it looks bad but…" he didn't know how to continue.

"No, its just… uhhhhg I don't know how to tell you. I just don't like it, ok? I don't like what the military did." She halfway answered, leaving him with more questions then answers.

"Are you and your parents moving in ok?" Joe asked, deciding that changing the subject was the safest approach to take.

"Um, well, I live with my aunt and uncle. My parents died a long time ago." Bryn said sadly, golden eyes filled with several different emotions he couldn't make out.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I lost my mom a few months back. I kind of know how you feel." Joe tried to comfort her.

Bryn looked over at him, a grateful smile on her face. When she saw his eyes, her own widened in surprise and she stood up abruptly, grabbing her messenger bag but never taking her eyes off his.

"I have to go Joe. I'll see you around." She blurted out looking exited. She turned around and dashed away in the direction of her house, leaving Joe behind, more confused then ever.

**A/N: I hope you liked it! Please REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! And thank you to **_**I Love The Pyro**_** for reviewing every chapter so far. It means the world to me!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I must say I'm disappointed. The first chapter I wrote got like 5 reviews and right now I only get like 2 reviews each chapter from the same people (and thank you to the two that do). I'm not going to threaten to stop writing or anything, it's just kind of discouraging, that's all. I hope you enjoy the chapter, it's kind of like a filler, but it's still important. It shows a bit of Bryn's life and the people she lives with. Not everything mentioned will be important though.**

Bryn ran home as fast as she could, not stopping once and not slowing down until she reached her front door. She opened it silently, praying it wouldn't creak, and stepped inside, taking off her shoes as quietly as she could. Tip-toeing through the hallway in her socked feet towards the staircase, she winced when one of the floorboards groaned long and loud underneath her.

"Bryn? Bryn is that you?" A feminine voice called shrilly from the living room. Bryn sighed looking exasperatedly up at the ceiling, cursing herself for getting caught.

"Yes aunt Carolyn, it's me." She replied, trying her hardest not to sound irritated.

She didn't hate her aunt and uncle, she really didn't. They were just so… overbearing. After her parent's deaths both of them had readily agreed to take her in, for that she was grateful, but she did not appreciate being treated like she was made of glass. She had come to terms with the fact that her family would never be whole again, that she was running a one man show, and was in no danger of ever having any kind of break down. She had tried to tell them that, but they just wouldn't listen. It was exasperating. Her uncle, Bryce, wasn't nearly as annoying as her aunt, but he was close in comparison. The only difference was that he worked and wasn't watching her when her back was tuned twenty four seven.

The fact that they had just moved into a new town didn't help matter at all. Carolyn was convinced that, since (to her knowledge) terrorists had attacked this town before, they were liable to do it again. Bryn knew better, but what she knew just made her hate the town even more. The damage she saw everywhere made her blood boil. Now she was exited though, exited that there might be a person in the town like her.

"Where were you for so long? You know I don't like it when you wonder too far. You don't know anything about this town. It's not safe for a girl your age." Her aunt scolded as she came around the corner. She was wearing a pink bathrobe and had curlers in her hair.

"Aunt Carolyn, why are you dressed like that. It's near dinnertime; you should've gotten ready for the day hours ago! It's a bit late now!" Bryn exclaimed talking to her guardian like she was the adult and her aunt was the child.

"Oh, nonsense Bryn darling. It's not nearly that late, is it?" she added uncertainly at the end of her sentence. Bryn walked over to the closest window and pulled the curtains away, letting the weak evening light flood in. "Oh my sweet honey, you're right! Lordy I'd better wash up before Bryce gets home. What I sight I'd be for him to see!" her aunt raced out of the room and up to her master bedroom bath.

Every since they'd moved in her aunt had been in a depressed type of state. It wasn't anything serious, just something that accrued whenever she moved. Bryn found it strange, but she never questioned it. As soon as Carolyn had some friends she'd be good as new.

Glad that her aunt would leave her alone for some time, Bryn walked quickly to her room, shutting the door and locking it behind her. She turned around and crouched into a springing position, jumping onto her bed and tackling her pet dog before she even had a change to register she was there.

Her dog was a huge German shepherd named Jules, after her mother. She was given Jules by her parents right before they died, so Jules was very special to her. Jules seemed smart for a dog. She noticed the change in Bryn that accrued a few weeks after she came to live with her aunt and uncle even when the adults didn't. At first Jules had avoided Bryn, especially after Bryn's eyes changed from they metallic grey to a k-9 like gold, but after a while she realized that Bryn was still Bryn, just slightly more animalistic and smart.

"Hey Jules! How was your day? Did you miss me, did you miss me?" Bryn cooed as she scratched her dog behind the ears when Jules barked she laughed and gave her a quick hug. "I missed you too girl."

Bryn quickly got off the bed and walked over to her desk, where a large stack of papers laid with star charts on them. She ignored the papers and opened up the top right drawer, pulling it's only content out. The strange looking rock flared at her touch, filling the whole room with an eerie orange light.

She sat back on her bed as Jules whined and scurried away from the light, looking at her master with worried eyes.

"It's ok Jules, it's harmless. I just need to make sure of something." Bryn quickly assured the dog. She turned back to the rock and closed her eyes, focusing all her energy on it. She tried not to flinch as thousands of voices filled her head, all chaotic and loud. She tried to sort through them as fast as she could, looking for one specific person. There were so little people in the town that it didn't take her long to find him, and once she did she knew right away he was like her. She was filled with his ability just as he was most likely filled with hers. Everything in her room began to shake, almost like there was an earth quake, and several items that were light floated up into the air, the longer she kept the connection, the more her room shook. Jules was cowering in the corner, obviously scared out of her wits. Alarmed she quickly dropped the stone and as soon as she did everything stopped and the few items that had been floating fell.

"Bryn, is everything ok? I though I heard some strange noises coming from your room!" Aunt Carolyn yelled form her place in the bathroom.

"Everything's fine aunt Carolyn. I just dropped some stuff is all." Bryn called back shakily. She felt as if she were having an adrenaline rush.

"Well… ok." her aunt replied, not sounding all that convinced.

Bryn turned back to her ruffled room, a huge smile spreading across her face. She jumped up and as fast as possible, put the stone away and leaped back to Jules.

"I found him Jules, there's finally someone like me out there!" she cried happily, burying her face in Jules' fur as joyful tears fell from her eyes.

She wasn't alone anymore.

/

_Joe's House, Several Minutes Earlier_

Joe sat at his desk, expertly painting one of his new models as he tried to center his thoughts. He couldn't keep his date with Alice out of his mind. The way he felt with her was, no matter how cliché it sounded, magical. She was his world at the moment, she was perfect in his eyes and he couldn't wait to see her again.

Another person on his mind was the new girl, Bryn. She was so mysterious, and, if he dared admit it, very unusual. She seemed to be able to go from blazing mad, to calm and collected in a matter of seconds. He also didn't understand her hatred for the military and the wreckage of the town. She couldn't have known about the alien and what the military did to it, could she? Her eyes unnerved him. The color of her irises were so strange, and he was still positive that the first time he saw her, her pupils had been slitted.

He heard a knock at his door and he turned too look just as his dad peaked his head inside. He raised an eyebrow and waited for his dad to speak.

"Hey Joe. I was just wondering if you minded if I ordered in pizza tonight?" Jackson asked, only looking slightly awkward. He was still getting used to talking normally with his son again.

"Yeah dad, it's fine." Joe replied with a small smile. Jackson shifted on his feet and stepped farther into the room.

"Do you want sausage or pepperoni or anything on it?" he questioned, unsure of himself.

"Whatever you like, dad. It's fine with me." Joe turned around in his chair and looked fully at his dad, an amused glint in his eye.

"Yeah ok, thanks Joe. I'll, uh, go order it now." His dad turned on his heels and left for the kitchen where the phone hung.

Joe turned back to his model just a strange feeling overcame him, like having someone else in his mind with him. He felt a surge of power and suddenly he could hear what his dad was thinking. Not even considering the oddness of it, he took the opportunity in stride and focused on his dad.

_I can't believe I let it get this bad with Joe and I. I should've been there for him. I can only hope things will get better…_

Joe pulled out of his father's mind; not wanting to hear his remorse anymore, and just as he did several other voices filled his mind. There were so many he couldn't figure out who was who and he couldn't follow what anyone was thinking. None of it made any sense.

_I wonder when our house will be fixed. I can' stand sleeping in that smelly community center anymore._

_I should probably get some more groceries tomorrow. We're all out._

_What in the world was that noise? What could Bryn possibly be doing in there? I hope she isn't hurt._

Before the thoughts had a change to overwhelm him he felt the power leave, like it had never been there in the first place.

/

_Military Base of Operations In Lillian, Ohio_

After the death of Colonel Nelec, the Air Force appointed a new person to take over his post. That person was Lieutenant Colonel Jonah Frazier, or, as known now, Colonel Frazier. He was a much better person for the job. Unlike Nelec he was more determined and committed. Frazier knew all about the alien and what it was capable of. He knew that the fight wasn't over. After examining Doctor Woodward's films they determined that the Alien could establish a mental link with a human. Who knew what else the beast could do with a person's mind. Frazier wanted to find out, no matter what. That was why the military were still stationed inside the small town of Lillian.

Frazier was keeping a close eye on all possible subjects, the three kids that had been in the underground tunnels especially. He was very intrigued when he heard about them. Apparently the two boys had just been trying to save their little friends, and had encountered the alien in the process.

From a very unlikely source (a frazzled teen girl with curlers in her hair and green goop on her face) they found out that the alien had picked one of the boys up, they just weren't able to figure out which one, so both were under close observation.

Frazier was pulled out of his thoughts by a loud beeping coming from one of the monitors in front of him. One of the analysts working there at the time rolled over on one of the wheeled chairs and started pushing away at the buttons, trying to figure out what was triggering it.

"Uh, Colonel Frazier, you might want to see this." The analyst said, looking at him nervously. Frazier walked calmly over to him and gazed at the screen.

"What exactly am I looking at?" He drawled out, putting emphasis in each word, his cold, merciless eyes zeroing in one the puny man sitting before him.

"There was a sudden increase in energy coming from one of the houses a few blocks away from the town. The energy was unlike any I've seen before." The analyst told him, wriggling under the unwavering gaze of his superior.

Frazier smiled cruelly, writing down the address of the source of the energy.

"Perfect."

**A/N: I very happy with this chapter. It turned out pretty good. Please review! You know, if there's anyone out there reading this, besides **_**I Love The Pyro**_** and **_**Super8-Lover**_**, of whom I'm very grateful. **


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: the updates from this point forward will start** **slowing down a little because I start school on Thursday. I know! Who the heck starts school on Thursday? Why couldn't they have just waited until the next Monday? That would have made my life sooo much easier. And they only give us our school supply list one day before we start, so on my last day of summer, I'm stuck shopping for my own torture sessions! ... Well, thanks for letting me rant, made me feel a bit better. Enjoy the chapter. **

"Have any of you met the new girl yet?" Joe asked his friends as they prepared to shoot the second to last scene for Charles' movie. They had fun in the beginning, but Joe could tell everyone excluding Charles was getting sick of it all. He alone couldn't wait until they were finished.

"No I haven't met her yet, but I saw her. She seemed nice enough, if a little temperamental." Preston said looking up from trying to fix the boom microphone.

"Yeah, she was just sitting in the park, writing in this journal or something. She was cute. I wonder if she likes firecrackers?" Cary wondered out loud, a surprisingly thoughtful look on his face.

"Oh yeah, that's a way to get a girl. 'Hey I was wondering if you wanted burn the town down with me? It'll be fun!'" Charles joked sarcastically, making his voice higher to mimic Cary. Cary threw a rock at him.

"I do not talk like that, and I didn't say anything about burning the town down!" Cary yelled angrily.

"Knowing you, you'll somehow manage to burn it down sometime, so it really doesn't make a difference." Charles replied with his eyebrows raise in annoyance.

"I will not! Why don't you just stick to writing scripts you fat pig!" Cary was getting really defensive, and Joe knew a fight was inevitable.

"Don't call me fat, brace face!"

"Oh, so you can call me brace face, but I can't simply state fact? That's bull!"

"Just shut up, ok? Shut up!"

"Guys, knock it off!" Joe yelled impatiently getting between the two before they could get a go at each other. Something in his eyes must of told them he was close to loosing it, because they immediately backed off and sulked away in different directions.

"They're so impulsive sometimes." Preston muttered to himself, but he wasn't looking at Cary or Charles. He was watching Joe with calculating eyes. Joe, feeling uncomfortable under his friends knowing gaze, looked nervously away.

"Ok, we've done enough today. Let's just go down to diner or something." Charles suggested putting the camera away. Everyone agreed and the headed towards the town.

"Hey, have any of you felt kind of… strange since the whole alien incident?" Cary asked out of the blue. Joe tensed up and looked guardedly at his scrawny friend.

"What do you mean by strange?" He questioned trying hard keeping his voice from faltering.

"I mean like your being watched." Cary replied looking around him like he expected someone to jump out. Joe relaxed and gave a small smile, none of this going unnoticed by Preston.

"Well, yeah I guess."

"Oh come on, you're both just being paranoid. No one's watching us." Martin grumbled, sounding like he was trying to convince himself rather then anyone else.

"Well, I've felt it too. It's creepy." Alice shivered, a disgusted look on her face.

"Maybe we are just being paranoid." Joe shrugged off, not sounding all that worried. And really he wasn't, he had bigger problems to deal with at the moment.

"Nah, you're all just retarded." Charles said seriously, earning a smack from Alice and a punch in the arm from Cary. Martin just ignored him, he was used to that kind of thing from Cary.

They were just outside the diner when a huge German shepherd came bounding down the street, it's tongue hanging out of the side of it's mouth, a happy sparkle in it's eyes. Before Joe knew it, he was lying on the ground with the German shepherd towering over him, licking his face and barking cheerfully.

"Jules!" He heard a familiar voice yell out alarmed. "Jules get off of him! Heel!" The dog responded immediately, backing off and standing in front of him like she was proud of her find.

"I'm am _so_ sorry. She isn't usually like this." Bryn apologized to Joe as she ran up to him, grabbing his hand and lifting him up with surprising strength.

"It's fine. Thanks for helping me up. Oh, and Bryn, these are my friends: Alice, Cary, Charles, Preston, and Martin. We were just heading down to the diner." Joe introduced her to his stunned friends. Bryn just raised an eyebrow in their direction and petted her dog on the head.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you." Preston greeted, holding his hand out so they could shake hands.

Bryn grinned, oddly enough, and took his hand in hers.

"Nice to meet you too. My name's Bryn Ronaldie, and this is my dog Jules." She replied, shaking his hand before quickly pulling it back. Charles was looking at her suspiciously and Cary just looked speechless.

"Hello Bryn. Would you like to come eat at the diner with us? It would give us a chance to get to know you better." Alice invited politely. Bryn looked at her with apprehension, but her eyes darted over to Joe with a desperate look in them and she nodded.

"Ok." She agreed. "I'll just send Jules home." She knelt next to her dog and whispered some words in her ear before the dog took back off down the street.

"How do you know she will go straight home?" Charles asked curiously.

"I trained her to. She will." Bryn replied confidently. She then turned on her heel and went into the diner, everyone else scrambling behind her. They found a booth that would fit them all, sat down, and ordered their food before anyone had a chance to really talk.

"So, I heard you live with your aunt and uncle. What's that like?" Charles asked, ignoring it when she flinched slightly.

"It's ok, they're just not exactly ideal parental figures. The job was sort of forced upon them. My aunt gets down really easily so moving hasn't helped her out much." Bryn said fixing him a steely glare that clearly read 'mind your own business!'

"Do you like firecrackers?" Cary squeaked randomly. Everyone looked at him like he was crazy, which was a very real possibility. "What I'm just curious?"

"I, uh, guess so. I haven't given much thought to it." Bryn stuttered, blushing for some reason. "Have any of you read what was written about you in the papers yet?" she asked suddenly.

Everyone stared at her blankly.

"The story about the alien? No? Well I just think it's fair to tell you that you should be careful. I mean, there has to be some reason as to why the military haven't left yet. Who knows what they're thinking." She warned them seriously.

"You mean they got the real story in the papers? How?" Cary exclaimed, leaning in closer to her.

"That girl from the tunnel told reporters what happened, the one that had on curlers. My dad told me." Joe offered him quietly, looking ghostly pale.

"She lived! Wow, I'd thought she died down there." Cary said to himself, looking surprised.

"If it makes you feel any better, you are being portrayed as hero's." Bryn added trying to give them all a small smile. Charles banged his fist down angrily on the table not looking happy.

"Like we care about being portrayed as hero's! Old man Woodward said that if we knew too much they would kill our families! You think the fact that we might have fan clubs will keep them from killing us!" He whispered harshly, not wanting to attract any attention. Bryn threw a fierce glare in his direction and for a split second; Joe thought that he saw her pupils go split again, just like when he first saw her. As soon as he thought he saw it, it was gone. So fast that he thought it was just a trick of the light.

"First off, I'm not the one you should be getting angry at. Just because I'm the one that told you, doesn't mean I'm planning on killing your family. If I hadn't of told you someone else would have eventually. Second, having fan clubs and admirers could very well save your life." she ground out looking like she wanted to snap Charles' neck with her own hands. Charles just sneered at her.

"Please, enlighten me." He jeered getting in her face.

"No she's right," Preston agreed nodding at her. "If we did have a fan club there would be devoted people outraged at out deaths, and would notice if we disappeared. It could cause riots and who knows what else. But that's only if we had a wide range of admirers. The military wouldn't risk that."

Bryn looked smugly at Charles, and smiled gratefully at Preston. He blushed at looked away.

"What, you're going to stuck up for this bimbo and not your best friend?" Charles demanded his face growing red with rage.

"I can't help it if she's right, and you were being pretty rude. She was just trying to help." Preston defended himself and Bryn.

Bryn looked down at her watch and slip out of her seat at the booth.

"I have to go home. Uh, Joe, could I talk to you for a second?" she asked nervously. Alice looked at her suspiciously but didn't say anything.

Joe nodded and followed her out of the diner.

"Look, I have something I need to discuss with you, but I don't have time to do it now and this place is too public. Could you please meet me by the railroad tracks at the edge of the woods tomorrow at around lunchtime? It's really important." She pleased with him, her eyes wide and hopeful.

Joe looked unsure of himself but nodded anyways. He had something's he wanted to say to her too.

"Thanks Joe!" she said giving him a quick and tight hug before she turned and sprinted away. Joe watched after her until she disappeared, then he returned to his friends, not meeting any of their curious eyes.

**A/N: I have a question for you people. I'm not sure who to pair Bryn with, or if I should even pair her at all? Please tell me what you think! Should it be Bryn/Cary, Bryn/Preston (my personal favorite), Bryn/Charles (not very likely) or even Bryn/OC? If there were a time to actually answer one of my questions, it would be now. I **_**really**_** need help with this one. Please please please review!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I hope you all like this chapter. Some questions will be answered and some new questions will form! I still haven't decided who I'm going to pair Bryn with, (and at the moment I'm considering changing her name. I liked it at first, but now it's annoying me for some reason) because I got one person saying they liked Bryn/Cary and one other person saying they liked Bryn/Preston, so it really didn't help much. Anyway, on with the story! ! ! !**

Bryn paced the length of the railroad tracks nervously. It was currently eleven o'clock in the morning. She had at least one hour before Joe arrived. She wasn't sure how to approach him on this particular subject. It wasn't exactly something that people talked about often. Actually she wouldn't have been surprised if no one had _ever_ had to tell someone anything like this before. It was unusual and rare, from what she'd been told. She didn't want him to freak out or panic. She didn't want to loose him because he resented her for what she was, for what _he_ was. There were just so many different scenarios she could see in her head, and they all ended badly.

She really wished Jules were with her. Jules was always a pillar of comfort. The last gift she had left from her mother.

When she found out what she had become she had taken it uncannily well. At the time she was grief stricken from loss and finding out that she'd been… well, changed could of never amounted to how that felt. It was a cakewalk compared to the emotional pain burning away in her chest. But unlike Joe, she had a chance to hear what she had become from the source of it all, living breathing proof. Not that she didn't have proof to show him, she had plenty. Just not the kind Joe might want when she breaks the news to him.

Sighing in frustration she allowed her knees to give out and she plopped down on the track's outer edge, bringing her knees to her chest and burying her head in her crossed arms. She couldn't loose him, she just couldn't. Before she knew about him she felt so alone and afraid, like she was some kind of freak. In him she would have a person to really talk too, someone she could tell everything. He would be understanding and sympathetic, just as she would be for him. He would be like her brother, and she his sister.

She was so lost in her own thought that she didn't hear as a person came up to her side, quietly calling her name. She wasn't even aware of their presence until a hand shook her shoulder.

/

Joe walked slowly to the train tracks. He wasn't so sure he wanted to hear what Bryn had to say, but he had told her he would come so he would. He was just prolonging the meeting as long as he could. As he walked he thought back on the events that happened at the diner after she left.

_(Flashback)_

"So what did she have to talk you about?" Cary asked irritably after Joe had just avoided their eyes for a few minutes. They were all really curious, but only Cary didn't mind sounding rude at the moment. Charles was too busy seething silently to care about much of anything.

"It was nothing, ok? Mind your own business!" Joe snapped suddenly feeling defensive for the girl he didn't even really know. It was nothing any of them had to worry about.

"Fine, fine. Jeez." His friends muttered under his breath. Joe just rolled his eyes and ate one of his fries.

"What do you think we should do? About the military I mean. I don't want to be suddenly abducted from my house by those guys. You heard what they did to Dr. Woodward." Alice stressed, shuttering at the mention of their old teacher's untimely fate. After all the alien jazz, it had been released to the police station exactly what had happened to the old doctor. No one wanted to go into any detail about it.

"There isn't much we can do. They are the military after all." Preston said matter of factly.

"Well no fricken duh!" Charles burst out, glaring at the black haired boy. Preston just raised an eyebrow at him.

"I could blow up their base if you want." Cary told them excitedly, a wicked twinkle in his eyes. All the others groaned in unison.

"That would only land you in jail, Cary." Joe explained to him quickly. Cary visibly deflated. Joe turned to back to the rest of the table and saw that Preston once again had his eyes on him. Even when Joe met his gaze he didn't falter.

"What are you looking at? Do I have something on my face?" Joe asked him. Preston shook his head, like he was just now coming back to reality.

"No it's just… your eyes look funny. They're almost, golden. At least they seem to be turning golden. People's eyed aren't supposed to change color after the age of around five…" he trialed off, letting Joe fill in all the rest himself. Alice was looking at him now too.

"Uh, I, um, have to go see my dad. I'll see you all tomorrow. I'll pay you back for the food some other time!" He said nervously as he gathered his things together and left in a panic.

_(End Flashback)_

Only now, after the fact, did he realize that running away from their questions like that was extremely stupid. His friends were not the type to give up easily. He should have just made something up and lied about it. At least then he wouldn't have to explain why the questions made him nervous.

After only a few days his eyes were now almost completely gold. What little of the brown color they used to be was left looked almost like a stain. Luckily his dad hadn't noticed because he was too busy keeping the reporters at bay the reporters. So far none had made it into Lillian and Jackson Lamb planned to keep it that way.

Joe was nearing the place where he was to meet Bryn and he knew it. As he got closer he saw Bryn sitting on the tracks with her head resting on her knees, which were pulled up to her chest. From what little he could see of her face he could tell she was worried.

"Bryn? Bryn are you ok?" he called out softly, hoping not to scare her. She didn't even react. He stepped closer and called her name again, but still no response. Feeling concern creep into his chest he placed a hand on her shoulder and shook her gently. Finally she lifted her head, her eyes were bloodshot and her hands were shaking. When she saw it was him her face lit up and she pushed her self off the tracks so she could stand.

"Hi, Joe. I wasn't expecting you here quite yet." She commented as she wiped some dirt off her jeans.

"Well I wasn't sure exactly when to come so I left at eleven thirty. So what is it you wanted to tell me?" he explained giving her a small smile.

She shifted her weight nervously, her right hand squeezing her left arm in an unconscious gesture.

"I'm not sure exactly how to…" she drifted off, taking a deep breath and deciding to start somewhere else. "Have you felt any… different since that night in the underground tunnels?"

Joe visibly stiffened and he felt a sudden urge to run away.

"No, I've felt fine." He ground out, lying through his teeth.

"I know you're not telling me the truth. Please, I need to know so I can help you! I like, 95% sure I know what's going on with you but I need you to tell me so I can know for _sure_. If not I can't help you at all." She pleaded, grabbing both his arms and shaking him in desperation.

Joe pulled away and looked at her uncertainly, but the look in her eyes erased the urge to run. He could tell that she needed this, she needed _him_. He closed his eyes and sighed, resigning let fate take it's course.

"I have felt a little odd." He told her opening his eyes. "The first day after I had a horrible headache and when it went away I felt strange, good, but strange. It seems that I now suddenly have photographic memory and my eyes are changing color. The same color as yours actually." He finished suspiciously.

"There's a reason for that, but if I explain it all to you, you have to promise me that you won't start ignoring me and that you won't tell anyone." She bargained cautiously. He nodded and she pulled him down so that they were both sitting criss-crossed on the grass.

"Well it all started for me a few months after my parents died…"

**A/N: sorry for the cliff hanger but I wanted to update. I hope you liked how it went and a lot of questions will be answered in the next chapter. I wonder how many of you are interested to know what happens…**

**Review, review, review! You know how it goes! ! ! !**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: thanks for all the reviews! I really appreciate all of them and I got a bit more then usual the past few days. You have no idea how happy that makes me! Right now I really like the idea of Bryn/Preston and unless so super obsessed Cary fan somehow manages to change my mind, I'm going with that. I hope the people who don't necessarily like the pairing will still read it. Enjoy the chapter! ! !**

"Well it all started for me a few mouths after my parents died. I had just moved into my aunt and uncles house. One night I heard them talking about my parents. They were discussing what to do with the last of their belonging. They mentioned something about a charity, and, I don't know, I just snapped. I couldn't take it any more. They were going to give the last I had of my family away! I got so upset, I wasn't thinking straight. I ran out the door and into the forest behind the house. I ran until my feet were numb and I had no breathe left in my lungs. I looked around while I caught my breath and realized something: I was hopelessly lost.

"Not knowing what to do and still very much upset I just kept going forward. I walked without even bothering to watch where I was going. At one point I tripped and fell into a deep hole. When I got back up I noticed that it wasn't a hole. It was a tunnel." Bryn told him dreamily, her voice getting soft as she got lost in her memories.

"A tunnel." Joe breathed, catching onto what she was insinuating. "An alien's tunnel."

Bryn nodded grimly.

"I heard a noise coming from a little ways down, and, being a curious kid, a went to find out what it was. I walked quietly towards it and entered into a large room where a huge figure seemed to be sleeping. I took another step and a stick snapped under my foot. The figure heard it and slowly got up." Bryn winced, wringing her hands nervously. She obviously didn't enjoy telling this part of her story.

"I looked at it as it opened its eyes. They were covered by a filmy like substance even under its eyelids, but as it cleared I saw that they looked almost like a cats, golden and with two slits for pupils. It snorted when it saw me and approached with alarming speed, picking me up and holding me to its face. I didn't even have time to gasp. As soon as I made contact with its skin, I felt it enter my mind.

"'_**Why do you disturb me?' **_it asked inside my head." As Bryn retold him the evens, she made her voice low and wispy to mimic the voice she had heard in her head.

"At first I though I was going crazy. I mean, even I knew hearing voices in your head wasn't a good thing and I was only a child! 'I didn't mean to bother you,' I replied to him nervously. I realized it was a he by the depth of his voice.

"'_**You should not of come here, daughter of Eve, for the consequences with be great. I fear you have enough to deal with at the moment,'**_he told me as he gently sat me back on the ground, making sure to keep contact. 'What do you mean by that?' I asked. '_**Do you realize what I am? I am of another race. Not from your planet. My kind was not made to interact with humans. When you startled me I acted on instinct. A human's brain is fragile and frail. You only use a small portion of it. By my entering your mind I have, in a way, broken the wall that kept you from your true potential. You will not be like other's,' **_he told me gravely. I didn't understand what he meant." Joe stared at Bryn in horror. He saw where she was going and he didn't like it.

"He held his head up high for a moment and seemed to be listening hard. '_**You must leave now, for your kin is looking for you,'**_ he broke the contact he had with me and backed away. I turned to look at the tunnel I had come through and then back at him uncertainly. 'Will I be able to talk with you again?' he nodded his head, understanding what I was asking. I left and roamed around the forest until my uncle found me. I had a horrible headache that night and the next day. After it went away my eyes started changing color. They used to be gray." She finished, reaching up and touching her cheek under her eye wistfully.

"No, no, that-it can't be true. That's not what happened to me! You're just confused." Joe fought fiercely, and edge of desperation making his voice crack.

Bryn looked at him sadly, her shoulders hunched despairingly.

"It is true Joe. That's what's happening to you now. It's because of the alien. You're now using one hundred percent of you brain, not just ten." She explained to him slowly.

"What? But… I mean… it can't," He stuttered hopelessly. He seemed lost and afraid. "Then how come Alice isn't going through this too? She was touched by the alien!"

"Yes but she wasn't conscious through most of it and from little I know about what happed to her, the alien didn't really communicate with her, she just saw into her mind. It's not the same thing." Bryn told him.

"You called it a her, how did you know it was a her?"

"I went back to talk with the alien before he left for his home planet. He told me enough that I can tell the difference between a girl and a guy. Even the damage they leave behind is different."

"But none of the military workers or even Mr. Woodward in his films ever mentioned anything about another alien." Joe winced at how scared his voice sounded.

"Your alien, the one that picked you up, was one of the unlucky ones. Lots of the same race has to come to this planet before. She just got caught." Bryn explained.

Bryn stood up and grabbed him by his arm, dragging him with her. She started walking off towards the woods.

"Come on, there's something you have to try." She said, now sounding kind of excited.

"What is it?" Joe asked his voice sounding unsure.

"From what I know, although its not much, every person who goes through these changes gets one extra ability that no one else has at the moment. I'm a telepath. I can read a person's thoughts, but only a single person's thoughts at a time. I was also given a special stone by the alien I met, whose name is Geiniko, when I was younger. It enhances my ability and if there is another like me near by and I enter their mind, I get their ability for a few minutes while they get mine. You probably felt it but didn't know what it meant a few days ago." She said as she tugged him closer to the trees.

"Yeah I did feel it. I was able read my dads mind and then I heard a bunch of other people that I couldn't recognize. It was an odd sensation." Joe replied shakily.

"Yes well I was able to use your ability too. You're telekinetic." Bryn's face lit up at the mention of Joe's ability. "We're going to test it out now so I can hopefully teach you to control it."

"Wait! You only mentioned being able to use one hundred percent of my mind and being telekinetic. Is there anything else?" He questioned curiously, some of his fear melting away when she said she could teach him to control it.

"Yes, I noticed I act on instinct a lot and I seem more animalistic, most likely you've already experienced some of these things, but it's no big deal. It's kind of like a side effect." She replied nonchalantly.

"Ok…"

"Here. Try to levitate that stick with your mind." Bryn decided, pointing to a large branch that had fallen on the ground.

"That's not a stick! It's too big to be a stick! And how am I supposed to levitate it? I have no idea how to use my ability. I'm not even sure if you're right about me having an ability." Joe fretted biting his lip. Bryn rolled her eyes.

"You just have to concentrate. Like I said we act on instinct. If you focus you'll probably do it as a reflex." She said putting her hands on her hips and looking at him expectantly.

"Fine." Joe huffed, his horror and nervousness completely gone. The way Bryn was able to act so normally about it all made him feel comforted.

He looked at the branch Bryn had pointed to before and concentrated all his thoughts on that one thing. He felt ridicules just staring at it, but he knew that was what Bryn expected him to do. After a few minutes of nothing happening he felt his frustration build.

"I can't do! It's just not working!" he burst out angrily.

"Yes you can. Try again." Bryn replied calmly.

"No I can't! I probably don't even have an extra ability! Maybe it's just something you have. I just can't get that thing to…" he trailed off as he turned around. The branch was floating about a foot off the ground and Bryn was smiling smugly.

"I told you you could do it."

**A/N: I'm so sorry if you think this chapter is too strange, but I needed to write it so almost everything could be explained. It didn't turn out as good as I had hoped, but that's because my power went off, so I typed this over the last few days instead of just one day and it's a bit choppy. I hope you still like it. Remember: Review, Review, Review! ! ! ! ! ! !**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: thank you again to all who reviewed! It's really nice knowing I have faithful fans reading this. Again I'm sorry for not updating in a while, but this year I have more homework for school and I have less time to write. I hope to update at least two more times after this labor-day weekend since I have Monday and Tuesday off, but on Monday I'm going to be helping at my church's flee market, something I look forward to all summer long. I will still make sure to update for you all! I hope you like it! ! !**

"Why is she here?" Charles asked Joe acidly the day after Bryn's shocking revelation.

After both Joe and Bryn had spoken for a while, they felt a kind of family like connection between each other. Joe had asked her to accompany him to Charles house the next day so she could get to know his friends better and she readily agreed, saying it would be better for to stay by him until he could control the way his pupils slitted when he was angry.

"I invited her. She's my friend and I don't see why she'll be a problem." Joe explained calmly. His fists clenched by his side in an attempt not to lash out at his judgmental friend. He didn't like the way he spoke about Bryn.

"I think it's a great idea to have her here! Hey Bryn, could you please convince my fat friend that having a firework show in his movie at the end will totally make it awesome?" Cary asked enthusiastically, pointing to Charles. Bryn flinched at whatever it was Charles was thinking (only Joe knew what the flinch meant, the others just looked confused) and shook her head slowly.

"I don't think I'll be able to convince Charles anything. Sorry Cary." She replied apologetically. Cary shot Charles a glare.

"Can we please get back to the movie people?" Alice asked looking annoyed. Joe didn't understand why she was acting so strange, she didn't seem to like Bryn any more then Charles did.

"We can as soon as Charles cools down a little." Preston mumbled under his breath.

"I am cool!" Charles protested, banging his fist on the table, proving himself wrong.

"Hey kids," Mrs. Kaznyk, Charles' mom, yelled from the master bedroom. At the moment all of Charles' family except himself and his mother were out at the park with their dad, leaving the house shockingly quiet. "Is everything ok? I heard yelling! You'd better not be fighting."

"We're fine mom! Gosh!" Charles shouted hotly back.

"That does not sound fine to me." Mrs. Kaznyk said coming out of her room and into the dinning room where everyone was sitting. She looked at each one of them with narrowed eyes, trying to figure out what the problem was without having to ask her son. When her eyes landed on Bryn her face lit with a warm smile. "Well hi there. I don't believe we've met before. I'm Catherine Kaznyk, Charles's mother. What's your name darling?" she asked kindly.

"I'm Bryn Ronadlie. It's very nice to meet you Mrs. Kaznyk." Bryn replied standing up and politely holding out her hand to shake.

"Well Bryn, I hope you enjoy living Lillian. I certainly hope my son isn't causing any trouble with you." Mrs. Kaznyk said accusingly with her hands on her hips.

"No Mrs. Kaznyk. He's been… welcoming enough." Bryn said lying through her teeth.

"Well good. Have I met your mother yet? I haven't seen any new faces around town, what with the destruction and all."

"Um, no ma'am. I live with my aunt and she's not coping to well with the move so she hasn't been out much. If you'd like I can tell her that you want to meet her. I'm sure she'd like to know someone from here." Bryn said eagerly. Mrs. Kaznyk smiled once again and exited back to her bedroom, leaving all the kids feeling relieved.

"Ok, so now that she's gone, I think we should go down to that warehouse we've been using for Galloway's office. That's the last scene and then I'll polish it up and send it to the film fest. But, I refuse to work with _her._ She's caused enough trouble." He glared at Bryn and crossed his arms determinedly. Joe felt his face heat up in anger.

"She hasn't caused us any trouble! You're the one acting like a jerk. If she doesn't come then neither do I! Bryn's my friend and I'm not going to leave her out of anything just because you don't like her." He scowled as he saw his vision grow sharper and felt like he was looking at Charles like he was prey instead of as his friend and fellow human. Bryn stopped hard on his foot and gave him a warning glance. Joe cringed at the pain in his foot and his anger faded away.

"Watch the eyes Joe!" she whispered so low that only he could hear.

"Fine, if you want to side with the freak then be that way! She can come, but she'd better not mess anything up." Charles gave in, not noticing the changing in Joe's eyes.

"Hey man, that's going a little far. You don't have call her names." Preston exclaimed, defending Bryn bravely.

"Whatever." Charles scooted his chair out from under the table and stormed out of the house.

"Come on, let's go." Alice hissed harshly, following Charles out.

"What's going on with them?" Cary asked, his face screwed up in confusion.

"I have no idea." Joe said tiredly. "Let's just go, I don't want to make them any madder."

Joe, Bryn, Preston, and Cary ran after their fast paced friends and kept quiet while they stewed thoughtfully in their anger.

"Are you ok Alice? Did I do something to make you mad?" Joe questioned quietly. Alice turned her glare to him, her nose bunched up, showing how mad she really was.

"Why don't you go ask your new 'best friend'? You both seem to be pretty close." She sneered and quickened her pace, leaving him in the dust.

Joe sighed and kept his head down as he walked, trying to figure out what he'd done to make Alice so angry. As he walked he didn't pay much attention to where he was walking. When he walked right into a person almost twice his size he yelped in surprise. He looked up to see a man in a military uniform looking at him coldly.

"Hello young man. You wouldn't happen to be Joe lamb would you?" he asked in a cruel voice that made Joe's skin crawl.

"That depends on who's asking." He replied defensively.

"My name is Colonel Frazier, and you'd do best to answer my question boy." Frazier threatened, seeming to grow even taller as he straightened up.

"I don't think-"

"Joe! What are you… oh? And who are you?" Bryn asked running up from behind him, cutting off his sentence. She glared up at the man, unflinching before his terrifying gaze.

"I was just asking this boy the same question. So, are you Joe Lamb?" he demanded turning from Bryn back to Joe.

"He doesn't have to answer you! You're a stranger. We don't talk to strangers." Bryn said matter of factly. Her golden eyes seemed to catch fire as they turned almost like liquid. A sure fire warning that her anger was reaching dangerous limits. Joe hit her upside the head to distract her before she gave away part of their secret before the last person that should ever know of it. Bryn turned to him shocked at his actions. Joe just smiled sweetly.

"Pay back for earlier." He said pointing to his still sore foot.

Bryn looked like she didn't know if she should be pissed off, or grateful. After a second of very comical facial expressions she seemed to decide on grateful and smiled slightly at him.

The colonel cleared his throat and they both looked up at him.

"I have the authority to ask such a question. Now tell me, are you Joe Lamb!" his voice rose at the end of his sentence to such levels that he was almost yelling. Joe took a step back and Bryn continues to glare, but at a more subdued level.

"You could be the queen of England for all I care! We're leaving!" Bryn grabbed Joe's arm and pulled him away as quickly as she could, running towards the others until the menacing man was far behind the. Once he was out of sight she seemed to sag with relief.

"Are you ok Bryn?" Joe asked worriedly. Bryn looked to him and her eyes showed pure horror.

"We need to be carful around that man, Joe. What he's done, it's absolutely horrible. We can't ever let him find out about us or else I fear for our lives." She told him, her voice shaking in fear.

**A/N: I hope this wasn't too cheesy, but I wanted to add in Charles' mother (she'll be befriending Carolyn Stoat (Bryn's aunt) later on in the story) and the whole thing with Colonel Frazier will be important later. Please REVIEW, REVIEW, And REVIEW! ! ! It keeps me active with this story.**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: yeah, I've been gone for a while, and I apologize, but I've been busy with life and other fics. And to be honest I lost a lot of interest in this story. Plus no one else has really updated their Super 8 fics either. That doesn't help me much considering that what kept me inspired. Anyway, I decided I'm taking a small break from my other fics just to finish this one and get it out of the way. I find this easier to write then my other stories because I don't feel inclined to make it absolutely perfect; I just have fun with it. **

**I'm not completely sure where this is going, so I'm telling you right now, it you want something specific to happen in this story, tell me now so I can add it in just for you.**

**And might I add, some of you are **_**extremely **_**pushy.**

It had been two days since Joe's encounter with the colonel and he still couldn't keep those cold eyes out of his mind, Bryn's last words clinging stubbornly to his thoughts. She'd seemed so scared, yet she refused to tell him why.

He and his friends had pretty much finished up with the movie though, so he was happy about that. Hopefully Charles wouldn't cat like such a jerk for a little while with all the pressure of his shoulders. They just had to fix a few things here and there then ship it off. He couldn't have been more relived.

Alice had been giving him the cold shoulder since her little fit. She refused to talk to him and she seemed to dislike Bryn more and more as the seconds ticked on. Her behavior just confused him. He would never understand girls and he didn't plan on ever trying.

On the up side, he'd gotten even closer to Bryn. He even felt like she was a sister to him. It had only been two days, but they'd spend almost every minute of that time together and he could confidently say he knew her almost as well as he knew Cary.], mainly just because she was so open in their time together. Also, in the past few days, he'd progress in his… telekinesis, and Bryn called it. At night he as he laid in bed he would throw a baseball into their air, make in float for as long as he could, then catch it as it fell down. It was fun, really.

Cary and Preston seemed to like Bryn quite a lot too, but Joe couldn't tell for what reasons. As in, he was unable to detect if his friends either had a crush on his newfound friend, or if they just found her interesting. It could have been either really, with people like Cary and Preston. He'd asked Bryn if she could read from their minds if they did, but she'd just looked at him as if he were crazy and informed him that she only read people's minds on her first encounter with them to ensure they weren't loons out to murder her or anyone else. He'd been disappointed to say the least.

On the downside, his father and the other policemen couldn't keep the media back much longer. Apparently people were starving for more information on the little heroes of Lillian. He and his friends were terrified of what could happen there. They didn't want anyone to know about what they'd gone through and bring anymore military attention to themselves. It was already apparent that someone was interested in Joe and that scared him more than he cared to admit.

It was only a matter of days though.

Preston knew something too, he could tell. His eyes were now completely gold, just like Bryn's, and he knew Preston noticed this fact. His friend was a very observant person. He probably noticed abnormalities in Bryn too. Joe was very afraid of what conclusions Preston may come to. He didn't want to be a freak to his friends. If they ever did find out, he only prayed they understood and accepted him.

/

Preston waited for his friends to arrive at the town's most popular diner, (And only diner still currently standing) sitting in one of the booths patiently. He had his hands folded on the table as he lost himself in thought.

He'd called a meeting with Charles, Cary, and Alice, purposefully leaving Joe out of it. Joe was going to be their main topic.

He was very worried for his friend, and he had good reason to be too. He was acting so strange and… different. It wasn't like him to change so drastically, no, that was Charles's job.

Preston knew Joe would never come out and say what was wrong, so he knew he needed his friends' help to get it out of him. They'd find a way; they always found a way to help each other out when it was needed, even if the actions were questionable. Like the time they attempted to snap Cary out of his obsession with fire by dumping him in a tub full of ice. That hadn't worked. Obviously.

He sat up straighter as Alice and the others entered the establishment, walking warily towards him. They all sat down silently in the booth with him, waiting for him to speak.

"As you probably have already guessed," he started; keeping his voice semi low so no one else would notice anything strange. "I've called this meeting to discuss a few issues we've been having."

"No crap Sherlock!" Cary snorted, rolling his eyes. Preston shot him a glare, effectively quieting him.

"In case you haven't already noticed, something very weird is going on with Joe, and I think we need to get him to tell us what." He stated bluntly.

"You mean like his eyes?" Alice asked. "Because I've noticed that too. Plus he's been acting more aggressive lately. He's usually very subdued and peace keeping, but the past few days he's been the cause of most of out fights. Not to mention that Ronaldie girl." Alice scowled. (**A/N: Pronounced Ronal-dee, by the way, not Renald-ee) **

"Oh please, you just don't like her cause you're jealous! She seems plenty nice to me." Cary smirked, folding his arms and leaning on the table.

"Oh can it, brace face!" Charles sneered, shoving the smaller boy roughly.

"Guys! Guys! Stop it! This is not what we came here to talk about. We need to help Joe!" Preston said firmly, a grim determination in his eyes.

"Well, fine. I agree. Something strange is going on with Joe." Cary agreed. "And I'll do whatever you want me to. Anything to get back to him for that ice water thing. Besides, he is _way _too stubborn sometimes."

"Ice water thing?" Alice asked, sounding like she wasn't sure should be asking.

"You don't want to know." Preston said simply.

"Ok, I wont fight that. And I'll gladly help too. Joe needs a reality check. He's the kind of person that won't say anything until it's too late. I want to help him, cause he needs it. Even if he doesn't quiet know it." Alice agreed, nodding to Preston.

"Yeah whatever. I'll help." Charles huffed sullenly.

"But I haven't even proposed any plans yet." Preston said sounding confused.

"Anything to help Joe." Cary shrugged.

"I just want to know what's up with his eyes, and why he'd suddenly decided to befriend that little freak." Charles ground out.

"Why do you dislike her so much?" Preston demanded. He was sick of Charles and Alice talking Bryn down so much. If anything she seemed to be helping Joe where they could not.

"Because she's annoying and seems to have just a little too many secrets for my taste." Alice spat, glowering at the ground. Charles just shrugged again and refused to meet their eyes.

"You people are so agitating." Preston sighed, sinking down in his seat. "Let's just continue on with that matter at hand. How can we help Joe?"

"You trick the answers out of him." Cary said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

All eyes turned to him.

"Ok, continue." Preston said sounding interested.

"You just ask Joe things that kind of dance around the subject you're really interested in. eventually he'll let something slip, especially if he's distracted at the time. How else do you think I figured out he had strep throat in fifth grade. There was no way he was going to tell a teacher." Cary explained, fingering his lighter wistfully.

"Hm, intriguing."

**A/N: Well that's all you're getting for now. I figured you all just really wanted an update. I hope it's not too disappointing. Sorry for any mistakes and please review if you wish me to continue oh and don't forget to tell me if you want to see anything specific n future chapters.**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: I must say I was extremely disappointed at the lack of response to my newest chapter until today, when I found out three people had reviewed! Thank you to those three, you're the reason this is up now. If you happen to read this story and like it, I would appreciate it if you reviewed, since the Super 8 category doesn't get many readers. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter.**

**Also, I'm still open to suggestions if any of you want something specific to happen in the story. Just don't say anything about Joe getting abducted by the military; I've already made my decisions concerning that.**

**Oh, and if anything in this story seems inconsistent, then I apologize, but I'm writing as I go along, so it's bound to happen. And the grammar mistakes are because I'm lazy, but you'll get the gist of it :P**

"Why doesn't Alice like me?" Bryn questioned Joe as they walked down the street towards Joe's house. They'd been out in the woods talking and were now heading home because it was getting dark. Bryn was eating over Joe's house today. She'd met Joe's father the day before, and liked him quite a lot, so she looked forward to getting to know him a bit better. "I mean, she was really nice when we first met, but now she seems to despise me."

"Why don't you just read her mind and find out yourself?" Joe asked curiously, taking in his friend's sad expression.

"Because," Bryn sighed, "I don't like taking advantage of people like that. I told you before, I only read people's minds when we first meet."

"Yeah I know, but it would still come in handy in a situation like this. Alice seems mad at me too, and I have no idea why either. Girls can be so confusing sometimes." He smirked.

"I resent that. Guys can be just as bad as girls, and you know it." Bryn smirked playfully, bumping her shoulder to Joe's.

Joe smiled at her and laughed. It was times like this he felt carefree, when he could forget about the alien and the military. He longed for it to be like this everyday, but he knew it wouldn't last for long, because nothing in his life ever did.

"You know," Bryn started thoughtfully. "That really means your ability is much more useful than mine, since I don't really use it. I wouldn't feel guilty moving things around with my mind instead of _looking inside _people's minds. You're a lucky little booger aren't you?"

"Ha ha, that's hilarious." Joe rolled his eyes. "Isn't there some way we could… I don't know; share each other's powers? Like how you use that rock of yours?"

Bryn stopped and though for a second, an excited look lighting up her eyes.

"That's brilliant Joe! I'll look into it, ok?" She said with a smile.

"Glad I could be of assistance." Joe bowed mockingly.

Bryn laughed happily, but stopped a second later, her body stiffening. She looked around frantically, looking confused.

"What's wrong?" Joe asked in concern.

"Something's not right, but I can't-I can't figure out what." She replied sounding frantic. She spun around in a circle, looking around in a panic.

"Maybe it's nothing." Joe whispered, worried by her reaction.

He listened carefully, trying to find any proof that Bryn was right. For a fleeting second, he though that maybe the military had figured them out, that they'd discovered what he and Bryn could do.

All seemed quiet, though. _Seemed_ being the key word.

"Ah!" Bryn exclaimed from behind him. He whirled around to see her lying on the ground surrounded by people… with cameras? Before he could really react he too was surrounded, all attention on him. As soon as the throng of people started talking he knew what had happened.

"Joe Lamb! How does it feel to be your town's hero?"

"What were the underground tunnels like?"

"Did you see any of the terrorists faces?"

"What compelled you to go and save your friend?"

The reporters were snapping pictures and thrusting tape recorders in his face, demanding answers. The story used to explain the underground tunnels and the involvement of Joe and his friends was, apparently, that Alice and the others taken by the alien had been taken as hostages by terrorists, and that Joe and Cary had bravely ventured into the secret underground tunnels made by the terrorists to save them as they initiated their attack on Lillian (Explained in chapter one).

He still didn't understand how people could believe terrorists attacked such an insignificant town like Lillian, but they did and it kept them from looking too far into the incident so he couldn't complain.

Bryn was still sprawled on the ground after being roughly shoved down by the persistent crowd.

"Uh, I don't think I should answer any of those questions." Joe said, his voice choking as looked around nervously.

Before he could be bombarded by questions once again, the familiar men from the local police station were shoving the reporters away from him. As Lyle Hue gently grabbed his arm and began pulling him towards his police car, he saw his dad helping Bryn up from the ground. She was holding her head and wincing in pain, a terrified look in her wild eyes. She was glancing around desperately, looking for ways of escape.

"Come on Joe!" Lyle shouted as he him tugged forcefully. "We need to get out of here now!"

The reporters were shouting and yelling in out rage, clearly angry they hadn't gotten anything from him after all their troubles. Lyle practically picked him and threw him into his police car, getting in himself and driving away as fast as he could.

"Where's Bryn!" Joe demanded as soon as he caught his breath.

"Your dad's got her. He'll be meeting us at the station. The rest of your friends are there too." Lyle replied distractedly, looking carefully at the road, waiting for a crazed reporter to fling himself onto the road. At least that's what Joe though he was looking for.

"_What_ just happened?" He asked himself aloud, sounding dazed.

"The media got a hold of the story and found a way past our lines. We'd been struggling to keep them back for the past few days, it just became too much. Plus people had just started throwing laws at us, saying they had a right to speak to you an that we couldn't keep them from entering the town." Lyle answered sounding stressed.

Joe sighed, sitting back in the seat, his eyes wide with shock.

Within a few minutes they reached the station, which was a buzz with activity. Lyle got out of the car and helped him into the building. Joe looked around for his dad and Bryn, but before he was able to see them, Lyle had resumed leading him forcefully through the crowds. He weaved them through the swath of policemen and volunteers.

"Wait here." He commanded, opening a door and pushing him inside, slamming the door behind him.

Joe started at the closed door confusedly.

"Joe!" A deep, familiar voice said curiously. Joe turned around on his heels, looking at who else was in the room.

Charles, Cary, Martin, Preston, and Alice were all scrambling over to him, looks of concern on their faces.

"Are you ok, dude?" Cary asked, a surprisingly serious glint in his usually crazed eyes.

"Yeah." Joe squeaked in reply.

Alice frowned and reached a hand towards him, letting it fall to her side at the last second. She looked conflicted, like she still wanted to be mad at him, but wasn't.

"Do you have any idea what's going on, man? Cause we've got no idea. No one's telling us anything." Charles growled churlishly. He folded his arms and plunked back down on a seat.

"Yes, it is quite aggravating." Preston agreed with a wince.

"They took my lighter away." Cary grumbled simply.

Joe couldn't help but crack a grin. "It was reporters." He told them bluntly.

"Reporters?" Martin repeated, his voice cracking.

"Yeah, reporters." Joe confirmed, sinking to the ground, using the wall for support.

"We should have been prepared for this." Alice said tiredly.

For thirty more minutes they waited in the room in complete silence, the only sound being made when they shifted positions or moved spots. Joe was secretly waiting anxiously for Bryn to turn up. He was worried for her, but didn't want to bring her up in case her name brought on some kind of fight.

He wasn't a complete idiot; he knew Bryn was somehow apart of Alice's hesitation to reconcile with him. He just didn't get _why_ she was. And of course Charles hated her; he hates everyone.

When the door finally opened and his father and Bryn stepped in he was immensely relieved. Bryn was holding an ice pack to her head and was shaky on her feet. There was a light glaze over her eyes, but besides that she seemed ok. His dad was supporting her slightly. Jackson lamb had a black eye, but was smiling a little as he led her in.

"If you get any dizzier, knock on the door and I'll get a medic to come check you out again, ok?" Jackson asked Bryn, waiting for her nod before looking to Joe. He smiled reassuringly at him.

"Bryn has a minor concussion, so keep an eye on her. If she says anything… funny, just ignore it. I can't tell you anything about the situation just yet, so just please wait patiently." He said, addressing all of them.

"We've been waiting patiently!" Cary shouted as he jumped to his feet.

Jackson regarded him with amused eyes before answering, "Well you'll have to wait a little longer."

Martin groaned and banged his head on the wall.

"Of course." He huffed, glaring at Joe's dad.

Jackson smirked at him. He turned to Joe and beckoned his out of the room. Once they were both outside and the door was closed he started talking.

"I don't want you to worry about this, ok?" He said to his son seriously. "No one knows the real story, and we'll find a way to keep them away from you all. Bryn doesn't really have anything to do with this, but she's been bragged into it now. Just watch out for her. And make sure Cary doesn't get his hands on anything flammable or… explosive. He is at a police station. His parents can't cover up for him now. Oh, and try to keep Charles from fighting with everyone, there enough chaos here as it is."

Joe laughed and nodded that he would.

"Don't worry dad, I'll watch over Bryn and make sure Cary doesn't kill anyone. And Charles is being pretty quiet right now, so I think we're good with that." He told him with a small smile.

"Good." Jackson smiled back. "I've got to go now. Just, try and keep the peace."

**A/N: Don't worry, the action builds in the next chapter. Sorry of this chapters crap, but I got stuck, so I just pushed through :P Please review! It makes my day, or week, or month. Whatever, you get the picture.**


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